West TN, Single A Rankings

[jvaughan]

I will try to get to at least two of the games. Should be a good tournament. I am pulling for Bolton to win the other game and us have a rematch of the 84 state championship. But either way we are going to to get 3 games against 3 good teams.

[jvaughan]

No clue. The only I know anything about is Bolton and that is from last years team. I saw them play at UTM's summer camp. They are very athletic like most Memphis area teams but are very well coached and fundamental unlike a lot of Memphis area teams. So really I don't know mush about them except from last years team. But to get invited I guess you can't be horrible.

[ifiruledtheworld]

True. Keep us posted.

 

Off topic, but what do you think of the 8th graders that just moved up. I got to see a glimpse of them at Gleason. Do you think any of them have the potential to play a lot next year?

[jvaughan]

Out of this year's 8th graders the only one who has a real good chance of playing is Cody Black the left handed kid. He had good height and an ok shot. He depends a lot on the left hand but in Jr. High you don't have to be able to go both ways. I don't know that any of them will be able to help a whole lot next year but who knows who could get in the gym this summer and improve.

 

The other team's in the tournament are Lee Al playing Bolton. On the other side of the bracket is CB playing St. Joseph MS. and St. Bernard playing ECS of Memphis.

Don't know anything about any team so like I said it is kinda like a state tournament game going in blind having never seen the team you are playing.

[ifiruledtheworld]

I got a chance to catch the Dresden - Huntingdon game last night. My assessment of each team:

 

Dresden - This is the third time I have seen them play this year. They are tougher than I thought they would be going into this year. Roberson and Odle (I think these are their names, Dresden's PA guy is very difficult to understand) are both very good. They are not real flashy, but they are very effective. They get the ball into the hands of the open man and if they have the opportunity, they will pull it. Both can drive fairly well also. Dresden's post player (Gordon) is very talented. He gets good position and has some moves down low. He's a long guy and not real bulky, but seems to have pretty good strength. He has been guarded by guys that looked a lot bigger and stronger than him in every game I have seen, but he hasn't been pushed around like I thought he might going into the game. Their 4 (Andy ?), is also long and lanky, but gets good position and can score off of the rebound. And Eddie Miller is fast! If there is a faster guy on the court I'd like to see him. He can get down the court in a hurry and into the lane before you know it. And Dresden is pretty deep, they play a lot of kids. Dresden has really improved.

 

Huntingdon - Its difficult to make a judgment on them from seeing them only once, but here goes. I think John Thomas is an excellent player, but he is so out-of-control (or at least he was against Dresden), that he puts himself into too many difficult situations. He has a great shot, and if he gets an inch, he'll pull it and, although he had an off night shooting last night, they all looked like they were going in. Bell was running the point, and didn't look to score a whole lot last night. But he is good, and will get better as the season progresses. Huntingdon's post players were not real involved in the offense (they are more of a perimeter team), but they are space-eaters and can pull in the rebounds and put-backs. But the kid I was impressed with was Blake Hampton. This kid can play. He can drive and pull up, he can shoot the 3, and he's long enough to get rebounds. I was surprised that Huntingdon didn't play more kids though. I thought by the looks of them that they'd be real deep. I think Huntingdon will be very good in a month or so, it will take some time to gel after getting the football guys back so late. I also think I caught them on an off night (which is a credit to Dresden's defense also), and they're probably better than they looked last night.